Resume Question

[justApilot]

Sheik….I agree his total time was on the low side when he got that right seat jet job. How about if he had 600 hours is that enough time? 1000?3000 hours? Don’t ride him because he got a break. There are some very skilled 250 hour pilots out there. Don’t compare his easy road to your years of gaining the quality time you needed for your first turbine job. We all have to gain experience somehow and took many different roads to get it. Don’t military pilots check out in fighters at something like 300 hours? How about a 250 hour flight instructor? He is gaining experience and hopefully passing on his knowledge and experience to his students. How about the 250 hour VFR freight hauler? Jump pilot? Banner tower? Now how about the 250 hour bizjet FO. Isn’t he looking for experience? Atleast he is supervised by a Captain! And hopefully that Captain is molding his FO into a Captain by teaching him everything that he knows. When I flew bizjets as an IOE Captain, I flew with pilots with all levels of flight experience. Some were experienced turbine pilots and others had never flown anything larger than a small piston twin. Some of the lesser experienced were better sticks. I once flew with a guy who got a break (his old man flew for us). He had attended an accelerated course and I think in six months he had gone from no time to a wet commercial ticket. After he attended FSI/Simuflite, I flew with him for a month. What a great stick. Once you get used to thinking 8 miles a minute it is all instrument flying. You gain experience along the way whether it being in the right seat of a bizjet, instructing in a piston, single pilot freight hauling, flying jumpers, etc. etc. You are not born with it. At 250 hours haven’t we been taught everything as far as FARs, instrument procedures, AIM, holding procedures, etc, etc. Obviously he is not ready for a double generator failure, low on gas, dark, stormy, snowy, 200 and a half night with the winds gusting to 35 ninety degrees off the nose. That is why you pair him with an experience Captain. Now we have to apply all of that training and knowledge. At 250 hours we should have all the essentials of a professional pilot, now we need the experience. . At 250 hours have we experience everything there is to experience? Absolutely not! Experience is gained over time. Every once in a while I see or hear something that I haven’t seen or heard before. Everytime I flew with a guy that had never flown a jet I thought back to the old crusty captains that I had flown with as a newbie. They had handed down an enourmous amount of knowledge, some good and some bad. It was all experience. I learned more STUFF….from them! At the time when I was a bizjet Captain, I would tell our new Captains that it is up to them to help the FO’s grow into the left seat. Give them all of your knowledge. Teach them everything you know! . As far as the paying passenger is concerned, well what can I say. Just because your FO or Captain has umpteen thousands of hours, doesn’t make him a good pilot. Comon guys you know the pilots I am talking about. Hours alone do not make a good pilot.

Anyway that is where I am coming from. Enough rambling. It is time to change a diaper and have a beer. Not necessarily in that order.

 

[Checks]

"There are some very skilled 250 hour pilots out there. "

Are you serious??? VERY skilled?? Even you cant believe your own B.S.

The only reason you guys would hire someone with such little time is because they probably dont get paid very much and/or it is as a favor to little Johnnies old man. You dont hire them because they are VERY SKILLED! You crack me up man.

 

[justApilot]

Checks....and others. I stand by what I said. There are some very skilled 250 hour pilots. Skills are one thing, experience is another. I did not say that he was experienced. Don't read between the lines. Were you not very skilled at 250 hours? I know I was. His pay was the same as any other new hire. In my post I did mention that he did have some inside help getting the job. His oldman flew for us also. But how he got the job is not my point. This guy in question now has about 4000-5000 hours, and has lear, challenger and gulfstream types. He Has flown all over the world as both SIC and PIC...including probably a dozen or so North Atlantic crossings and a few to Hawaii both as SIC and PIC. I would trust him with the lives of my loved ones. Take care.

 

[TIS]

Some info to consider re: resumes

I think I have some very good information for you to consider about writing a resume. I will submit this in two parts because it's an excerpt from my book on aviation interviews and it's too long for the post measuring machine. Anyway here is Part I.


The Resume

A resume is a summary of your overall qualifications to perform work. An aviation resume has some unique characteristics that we shall discuss in some detail, but there are a couple of important things to keep in mind when putting any resume together.

Don't let your anxiety about getting a job lead you to exaggerating or adding untrue embellishments. Stick to the facts and never make claims about yourself that cannot be substantiated. If you have some impressive accomplishments or credentials, don't be afraid to highlight them but be careful to do it in a manner that will be supported by anyone your prospective employer might contact to verify your claims.

Remember that your resume is a summary and not a detailed analysis of everything you've done in your life. An employer reading your resume is likely very busy and has a number of applications to review, so keep your presentation succinct.

Generally, a resume should be no longer than one page unless it is absolutely necessary to show professional qualification. The information you select for inclusion must be carefully chosen for its impact on the reader. Your resume should not be a generic document that you hand out to every potential employer. A good professional resume follows a standard format and its contents can be easily tailored to a particular reader or company. This lets you highlight selected information relating to your target company, or to downplay some aspect of your experience that is not of value to a particular employer or could make you appear overqualified for the position you know is available.

The standard format includes the following information:

o Name, address, and phone number
o Objective
o Education
o Professional qualifications
o Work experience/history
o Any other pertinent details

Name, Address & Phone Number

Arguably the most important part of your resume, this tells employers who you are and how to reach you. Although this seems fairly obvious, remember that you are trying to create an immediate and strong impact. No matter what other information your resume contains, none of it matters if potential employers cannot get in touch with you. Your job at this point is to make it easy for them to do so. As with all parts of your resume, it is critical that this portion be impeccably clear and free of error. The address you give should be the one where they can reach you most readily. Again, this sounds obvious, but frequently during a job search an applicant's address or phone number may change, and somehow the master resume document gets overlooked and resumes are sent out with outdated contact information. Learn from others mistakes and don't let this happen to you. Keep your master resume document up to date at all times.

Since the ideal resume is limited to one page, space is at a premium, but don't skimp here. Be sure there is enough space that this critical contact information is easily legible. Your name should be in a bold typeface and at least equal to the largest type on the page. The address should not upstage the name so its type should be either smaller or narrower, or both.

If at all possible, avoid the use of extraneous information such as more than one address or a Social Security Number in the heading of a resume. There are three compelling reasons for this. First, extraneous information will detract from strength of the heading you want the employer to pay attention to. Second, an additional address will more than likely confuse the issue of the best way to reach you to some degree. Finally, a second block of information makes the resume more difficult to look at aesthetically because the heading is too cluttered. Such a heading can have the power to immediately overwhelm the person reviewing it and subconsciously pay less attention to what they’re reading. You will also see later in this chapter that unless it’s required by the company you wish to work for, it is not a good idea to put a Social Security Number on your resume.

Finally, to make it as easy as possible for employers to reach you, make certain to set your name and address block apart from the rest of the resume. You might center the block at the top of the page and left justify the rest of the resume, or you could provide extra space between the block and the body of the resume. However you choose to do it, make sure you do!

Objective

The objective is another important element in your resume and should be listed immediately following the address block. This briefly states the position you are qualified for and expect to obtain with your next career move. A clear statement of your objective is important for a number of reasons, telling employers specific job you are interested in. If your resume falls is misdirected, for instance it falls into the hands of the individual responsible for hiring flight attendants, the routing error will be quickly discovered so your resume won't be in the wrong hands for long.

Another reason to include a stated objective is to demonstrate dedication on your part to advance your career. The rest of your resume will detail what you have achieved up until now, but the statement of your objective will demonstrate your commitment to continued growth in your work and your career.

Education

A listing of schools attended and degrees earned is important in any resume and will be particularly important in your aviation resume. Most airlines strongly prefer, and many require, a four year college degree. To understand why, let's take a look at what your level of education tells prospective employers about you.

Obviously, your educational background demonstrates in part what type of work you are able to do. Presumably, your formal education provided you with at least a measure of vocational training. In many cases, a degree itself implies professional qualification. For example, an engineering degree would imply qualification for a position with the job title engineer. However, with a degree in a field that does not suggest the title of the job you are going for -- which is usually the case with pilots -- the benefit of such a degree may be less obvious.

Consider an individual with a degree in English, looking closely at what is implied by this degree. Some valuable skills become apparent. For example, a strong vocabulary and the ability to write well would be probable strengths, and writing skill implies strong organizational thinking, analytical reasoning, and powerful persuasive qualities. Another strength implied by this degree is reading comprehension skill. All of these things paint a picture of a person who could be a valuable asset in many areas including, but not limited to, law, journalism, and teaching.

So we see that a formal education is a benefit regardless of whether or not a vocational skill is directly implied by the degree earned. Looking beyond the specifics of the examples used here, we can see an underlying advantage that formal education affords to those who have it: the ability to undertake a project and have the resolve to see it through to its conclusion. This demonstrates an ability to make and keep a commitment, an important ability to include when you introduce yourself to a prospective employer.

Your educational background is an important part of your resume. If it is a strong background that qualifies you to perform particular jobs, this statement should take a prominent place in the resume. If your education is limited then you must let your other professional qualifications speak to your eligibility for the job.

Continued in Part II

TIS

[email protected]

 

[TIS]

Part II of Resme Writing

Part II - from my book

Professional Qualifications

Aside from making a company aware that you exist, this feature of your resume is by far the most important. What you say and how you say it will be the only information that a prospective employer will have at this point about your professional experience. Careful thought and planning should be integral to constructing this portion of the resume.

Because a pilot's professional qualifications are measured chiefly in terms of flight time and ratings, these must be included in a pilot's resume, but how should these critical qualifications be presented?

Before you decide on a presentation strategy, put some effort into learning how your target company evaluates resumes. There are two techniques in general use in the airline industry, one is manual, the other electronic. If the manual technique is used, someone physically reviews and screens the resumes, making individual judgments about which applicants will be pursued. The electronic technique makes use of scanning devices and has gained recent popularity because of its impartiality and speed. Knowing which of these techniques is used by your target airline will allow you to effectively plan how to organize the professional qualifications section of your resume.

Applications and resumes received by regional, national, and major airlines every day number in the thousands, a solid indication that there are many well qualified individuals seeking work as airline pilots. With such a high volume of resumes to review, you can be sure that if your target company screens manually, the person charged with this job, most likely the Chief Pilot or Director of Operations, will have many other time pressures and will not have much time to review the most important resume -- yours.

It can be very educational to watch a Chief Pilot review resumes. With pen or pencil in hand he or she will quickly circle or check the few things that need to be in a resume to indicate that the applicant meets their company's stipulated minimums. The process takes all of thirty seconds and when it's complete, the resume is placed in either the eligible or ineligible pile. Key to preparing a resume for this kind of examination is not so much whether you include the proper kinds of information, but whether the reviewer can find the information in the very short amount of time that will be devoted to your resume.

Presenting Flight Times

With pilot qualifications measured primarily by flight time totals and Pilot Certificates held, you must make this information easy to read and assess. The person who initially reviews your resume must be able to see at a glance that you meet the FAA's minimum standards and can be employed for commercial aviation. FARs require that a pilot hold at least a Commercial Certificate with an Instrument rating in order to be designated a Second in Command under Part 135 or Part 121. These qualifications and any other certifications you hold, as well as your flight time totals, must be prominently presented. Listing them as bulleted points will help make them both prominent and easy to find, while not taking up too much of your valuable resume space.

A good rule to keep in mind when designing this portion of your resume is that as you look at your resume document in its printed form you should be able to immediately locate your certificates, ratings, and critical flight time totals. If you can’t then you’ll need to make layout changes that improve your ability to do so. Once you have a document that you think accomplishes this, try it out on a friend. Ask them to find the information you are trying to make it easy to spot and see if they can locate it quickly too.

Another important aspect of presenting yourself to a company is showing them what they prefer to see. Like individual people, companies have a sort of personality, or a "corporate culture" formed by the opinions and preferences of the people who run them. As with individuals, companies also have preferences about the types of people with which they wish to associate. When a company initially screens resumes, evidence of characteristics that fit the image they wish to portray will be noticed. Knowing what your target company considers valuable in their employees is extremely helpful in determining what to emphasize in this part of your resume. For example, if you know the company places a high value on time spent as a flight instructor and this is one of your strong points, you will want to tailor your resume to prominently display flight instruction time. Before you begin writing this part of your resume, conduct some research into what is important to the airline you intend to target.

What will most companies be looking for? The following is a list of qualifications you will want to include in your resume. The minimum values for each varies from airline to airline but generally, the greater your qualifications in each category, the better.

FAA Certificates & Authorizations
o Airline Transport Pilot Certificate
o Type Ratings (if any)
o Part 121 or 135 designations (if any)
o Commercial Pilot Certificate (with ATP written passed)
o Flight Engineer Certificate *
o Flight and Ground Instructor Certificates held (if any)
o A&P Certificate (if held)
o Class of Medical Certificate

*Note: A Flight Engineer Certificate could indicate over-qualification to a regional airline seeking to keep its employees as career workers.

Flight Time Totals
o Total time
o Multi-engine time
o Turbine/Jet time
o PIC time
o Instrument time
o Flight instructor time*

*Note: Flight instruction experience might be construed as a negative aspect of your experience at some companies. Be certain to find out how it is viewed at the company you wish to apply to.

Work Experience/History

Another vital portion of the standard professional resume details an applicant's work history. When an airline job is concerned, your work experience is important for two major reasons . First, it tells the employer how you have applied your professional qualifications in your work in the past and provides references they might wish to contact. Second, it provides, at a glance, information they will need for your five year background security check. Each former employer listed is an individual element within this section and you will want to include as many as will fit in the available space.

Begin each element with the company name and your dates of employment at the left of the page. Your job title should appear just to the right of these dates on the same line. If appropriate and if there is room, a brief description of your responsibilities can follow the job title. Titles such as Ba-3100 Captain are self-explanatory and need no further explanation, but a title like "Chief Pilot" is somewhat ambiguous. Because it covers numerous Chief Pilot positions ranging from those at one man operations to large airlines it requires a brief description such as, "Chief Pilot, Training Fleet of 40 Aircraft" to clarify the nature of the position held.

There are many ways to arrange this section of your resume in terms of layout and if the company you are approaching has a preferred layout, you should attempt to emulate that format. If there is a one page limit and your work history is extensive, it may become necessary to edit your list of employers. If this is necessary, be certain to include previous positions that place your qualifications in the best light. Also, keep in mind that former employers who will provide the strongest recommendations should always be included. If you cannot list all previous employers, it is a good idea to include a statement such as, "Other excellent references available upon request," or, "Complete employment history available on request." Such a statement will allay potential questions about gaps in your employment history and invite a prospective employer to ask about your additional experience during an interview.

Other Pertinent Details

This section is optional and should only be included if there is room to do so without giving any of the more important sections short shrift. Items that might be included in this section are such topics as marital status, children, tobacco use status, general health, vision, hobbies, professional and social affiliations, and activities you enjoy. As always, attempt to emphasize your aviation background.

Your Social Security Number

Recently, there have been a number of cases where people have encountered serious difficulties because an unauthorized person was able to obtain their Social Security Number (SSN). From these instances it is becoming clear that some very important and private aspects of your life are tracked and catalogued using this number and when it falls into the wrong hands it can take a long time to repair the damage. For this reason I DO NOT recommend that you put it on anything that is meant for general distribution including your resume.

While it is true that many companies use your SSN to keep track of you and your application, the application itself will remain within the secure confines of the company’s walls. Your resume might not. Unless it is specifically required to appear on the resume itself by the company, you need not put your SSN on anything other than your employment application, your I-9 (eligibility to work) form and your W-4 (income tax withholding) form, so don’t!

One more thing to bear in mind about your SSN is that unless you specified otherwise, it is also your Pilot Certificate number. It is therefore, not a good idea to put your Certificate number on your resume. The company will be able to get any information on you they need to get and they will have access to your SSN at the appropriate time.


HTH

TIS

[email protected]

 

[cws]

now that is a reply!!!!!